Oklahoma man held on California revenge-porn charges

By DON THOMPSON, Associated Press

Posted:
02/16/2014 06:35:16 AM PST

Updated:
02/16/2014 06:35:23 AM PST

SACRAMENTO -- An Oklahoma man has been arrested on California charges that he operated a website for so-called revenge porn and extorted money from the victims, the California Attorney General's Office said Friday.

It's the latest of several arrests in California involving websites that post compromising photographs, which often are submitted by former lovers attempting to shame the victims after breakups. Photos also can be stolen or hacked from victims' computers.

Meyering owned and operated a website that solicited anonymous postings of private photographs of women, according to the attorney general's office. More than 400 were on the site's California forum.

Prosecutors allege the site required victims to pay $250 to remove the pictures.

Meyering is awaiting the appointment of a defense attorney as he fights extradition to California, said Nicholas Pacilio, a spokesman for the attorney general's office. He is entitled to an extradition hearing within 10 days of his arrest.

A Napa County judge set his bond at $100,000.

The investigation began when a woman from Northern California found nude photos of her on the website and said they were stolen from her computer, according to prosecutors. They said the website encouraged posters to identify the victims by their city and state and sometimes used their partial or full names. At least one victim was under age 18 when her photographs were taken, prosecutors allege.

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Victims who wanted their photos removed were forced to pay $250 through an account registered to Meyering at a non-existent Beverly Hills address, they said. Investigators said they traced the money transfer to Meyering's bank account in Tulsa.

"This behavior is the very definition of predatory, and this website made a game out of humiliating victims for profit," Attorney General Kamala Harris said in a statement. "These actions at their core are about one individual exploiting the privacy and trust of others for financial gain."